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Undercover trap that caught double-killer

14 May, 2016 5:00am

4 minutes to read

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A man who confessed to killing his ex-partner and her daughter after an undercover-police operation has been found guilty of their murders. After four-and-a-half hours of deliberation the jury unanimously found Kamal Gyanendra Reddy, 43, guilty of murdering Pakeeza Yusuf, 33, and her 3-year-old daughter Juwairiyah "Jojo" Kalim. The pair were found buried under the Takapuna overbridge in October 2014 but the Crown said they were killed at the end of 2006 or early 2007.

It was a fabricated world a team of undercover police officers had worked painstakingly to construct over six months.

Their efforts came to fruition on October 14, 2014, when Reddy finally admitted he had killed his former partner Pakeeza Yusuf, 33, and her 3-year-old daughter, Juwairiyah "Jojo" Kalim, and revealed the chilling circumstances of their burial beneath a traffic bridge off the Northern Motorway. They had lain undiscovered for seven years.

Days later, Reddy was arrested, and yesterday a jury found him guilty of their murders.

At the time of his arrest, Reddy asked police to put him in touch with a new friend - an undercover officer who had spent half a year gaining his trust.

Instead of bringing him a phone, Manukau police officers brought him a device which held a 21-second recording.

"Hi Kamal, this is [X] here. [X] isn't my real name. I'm actually an undercover police officer and I've been working with you for a number of months now in relation to the disappearance of Pakeeza and Jojo."

Reddy made no comment and was led back to the cells.

The officer's name is suppressed, as are the names - both real and fake - of all police staff in the Operation Canvas investigation.

All that the media can report is that the inquiry involved an officer being introduced to the defendant and gaining his trust through a series of "simulated criminal scenarios".